Tag: Mumbai

Many travelers explore new locations is search for the most beautiful beach, the latest food trend or the adrenaline rush of skydiving in an exotic location. What makes Charlotte and Josh interesting is they travel to help others. From working at Nongovernmental Organization on a tropical Island in Borneo, to teaching in the slums of Mumbai, to working in countless hostels, these Alturists don’t just explore the world, but create new ones along their way. This world they are creating started in 2015 when they decided the London life has taken its toll and it was time to “just go.” After months of planning and a name for their blog, Charlotte and Josh left London behind them and started their journey. What they discovered was so much more than what London could show them. From watching the sunrise at the Taj Mahal to volunteering in Borneo, travel continuously motivates them “to learn more about the world we live in and the amazing people that occupy it,” says the Spindrifters. It’s their willingness to learn and to help others along the way that has named Charlotte and John our Twippers of the Month for August.

Total countries visited: In total, we have visited 30 countries between the both of us.

What makes you interesting: We’re a travel couple who volunteer all over the world. We have worked for an NGO on a tropical Island in Borneo, been teachers in the slums of Mumbai and worked in countless hostels in India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

What brands do you love: We love brands that associate themselves with developing communities and promoting responsible tourism. We think it’s important while traveling to recognize how brands and tourism can impact the local community and help to support them while promoting specific brands.

What motivates you to travel: An insatiable thirst for experiencing and discovering new and exciting places. We travel relatively slowly so that we can delve deeper into how people in that country/community live and learn as much about different cultures as possible. We think that you learn so much more from traveling the world than anything else. Traveling challenges you every day in a completely different way and you should constantly be ready for the unexpected. We also think it’s incredibly exciting to learn more about the world we live in and the amazing people that occupy it!

What is the best part about having a travel partner: The best part about being a couple on the road is that you get to share all of the best, and worst, moments with someone! We have both traveled independently before but now traveling together we realize how special it is being able to have incredible shared experiences and being able to push each other’s travel boundaries to the max!

What was your best and worst travel experience: Our best travel moment is tough as there has honestly been so many but we can narrow it down to a couple of standout experiences:

Sunrise at the Taj Mahal – Something we had both always wanted to experience and it didn’t disappoint! We were lucky that there weren’t many people and there was an amazing low fog surrounding the base of the Taj that faded as the orange sun rose above it. It was special.

While volunteering in Borneo we were having a bonfire on the beach on an incredibly clear night. We were sitting with some guests and while gazing up at the perfectly clear Milky Way above us, luminescent plankton started lighting up on the shore of the sea. Magical!

Our fist worst travel moment was when we traveled the length of India from Jaipur to Goa in two days flat and ended up spending one very uncomfortable night sleeping amongst the rats and cockroaches on the floor of one of Mumbai’s very busy train stations. Safe to say we didn’t sleep for almost three days.

What is your favorite app to use during your travels: Hands down our favorite and most used app is Maps.me. It’s an absolute life saver and safe to say we use it every day without fail.

Best travel advice: First, always be open minded, go out of your comfort zone and push your limits to the max. You’ll be surprised at what you can achieve! Second, just smile. This is the easiest piece of advice to give and sometimes the most important. What a smile can bring is truly amazing. A smile can cross language, cultural barriers and turn an awkward situation into a friendship.

Next travel destination: We will be heading to New Zealand after a brief stint back at home in London catching up with friends and family!

What makes you interesting: There are thousands of travel bloggers all over the world, and we like to think we bring our own brand of zany to this genre. We noticed a lot of the successful bloggers are people who gave up their day jobs and went traveling full-time. That got us thinking – how can we pursue successful careers while continuing to travel? That’s how we came up with GYG’s tagline – work hard, trip harder. It’s not feasible for everyone to drop their everyday lives and get on the road, so we try to lead by example and balance the two.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned from traveling: First, it’s important to acknowledge cultural differences and embrace them. You’d be surprised at what you’ll learn from someone else’s way of life. Immerse yourself in travel. Don’t visit a place by doing a fly-by-tourist drop, instead, live in the place you seek to discover. Second, welcome change with open arms. Traveling is all about new and sometimes scary experiences that’ll often alter the way you think. Embrace it.

What has been the most useful thing you have brought on a trip: There are several things beyond the most basic essentials.

A multi-currency travel card is always useful.

Multiple copies of your passport in case of unforeseen emergencies, like getting drunk and subsequently losing your stuff in a foreign country.

DSLR for those gorgeous shots.

Travel Insurance.

Who is the most interesting person you have met while traveling: Two 20-something year old girls in the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil who live in the back of beyond, studying dolphin behavior and isolated from the rest of the world.

It’s 2050, list all the places you are most proud to have visited: Japan, inspired by Murakami‘s eccentric descriptions of the place. Corsica, for what used to be its raw, untouched beauty. Giza, for the pyramids. The arctic regions for the Northern Lights.

Describe the last time you tried something new: Climbing Machu Picchu was an unforgettable experience as was scuba diving in the beautiful waters of Bali. Also, eating a gigantic roasted ant in the Amazon!

It’s your first day arriving in a country with a language so foreign it might as well be gibberish, how do you plan to get by: Sign language, and Google Maps and Translate.

Current city: Currently I am traveling though Sofia, Bulgaria, but my home is out of my backpack.

Age: 24

What makes you interesting: When I finished college I rejected the idea to find a “corporate job” like 99% of my friends did and took a job as an English teacher in South Korea. I started my travel blog from day one. Two years later I now have 60K monthly visits to my site and over 100K combined social media followers.

Total countries visited: 64

What is your most favorite travel memory: Taking a private tour of the biggest slum in Asia called Dharavi in Mumbai, India. Witnessing 1 million people living inside of a 2 kilometer area was the single most eye-opening experience to date. I learned to really appreciate the things I have in life and to never complain about anything.

What is the most interesting food you have tried and where: I ate an entire live octopus in Seoul, Korea. There’s a video of me eating it on Youtube!

What is the most impractical item you have packed: An obnoxiously long selfie stick.

What is your favorite mode of transportation when you travel: I prefer to travel on trains because I love to look out the window at the countryside! Also, I am able to get a lot of work done (writing blog posts, etc).

What do people say when they travel with you: People say I’m like the Energizer Bunny. I’m always adventuring around nonstop!

Next travel destination: Cairo next week. Turkey the week after. Back to Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus) and then South East Asia until 2016.

At the vibrant age of 10, Brittany was lucky enough to have seen some of the world’s most remote places alongside her grandparents during their 5-year voyage around the globe. This experience transformed her; leaving her full of wanderlust. Fast-forward some years later, Brittany was able to call many corners of the globe home – from Caracas, New York, Miami, Milan to Shanghai. In 2010, she established VOYAGE Swimwear in her hometown of Palm Beach, Florida. VOYAGE Swimwear is a luxury swimwear brand that embodies the spirit of adventure and traveling. VOYAGE aims to incorporate vibrant map prints and intricate details to accompany the trendy wanderers on their journey around the globe.

Since 2010, Voyage Swimwear has made quite a splash in China’s very own fashion capital, Shanghai. The collection quickly became a staple in the Four Seasons Hotel, and was even mentioned in Forbes travel guide as a place to shop in Shanghai. Today, you can find the Voyage Swimwear collection in Four Seasons Hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, Macao, and even Mumbai. Currently, Brittany has plans to further expand the brand as well as draw more inspiration from the empire state of mind that is New York City.